Duke asked, "Are you Robert's men?"
Charlie and Cohen exchanged a glance before answering, "Yes."
"Go tell Robert that I'm back. I'll be waiting for him here."
His voice was not loud, yet it clearly reached the two players' ears, as though it had sounded directly in their minds.
Charlie and Cohen were not fools. By now, they had realized that the Duke before them was that mysterious NPC.
"Please wait a moment, Lord Duke. We'll notify Boss Robert right away." Charlie and Cohen did not delay. After taking their leave, they hurried off to find Robert.
Ten minutes later, Robert rushed over and appeared at the entrance of the Astral Embers shop.
When he saw Duke, he could scarcely believe his eyes.
There had been no news of Duke for an entire year—not even on the player forums. There had not been the slightest trace of that mysterious NPC anywhere.
Robert had originally thought that even if a mysterious NPC like Duke had left Sky City, he should have appeared somewhere else and been seen by other players.
He had hoped to gather some news about Duke through the player forums, but he had never expected that no related information would ever appear there.
After nearly a year, Robert's focus had long shifted to improving his own strength and developing and managing the guild.
Unexpectedly, before he had even logged in today, Charlie called to tell him about this. Robert had immediately logged in and hurried over.
"Robert, it's been a long time. Why hasn't your strength improved much?" Duke asked.
Robert was now a Great Knight at Level 25, still some distance away from Level 30.
Over the past year, the players had more or less figured out that Level 30 corresponded to the strength of a Level